James 1:25  "But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, not being a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."

James uses a phrase:  "…the perfect law of liberty…"  to describe what happens when we step from the Old Testament laws into the New Testament laws.  He says we now have a law called "Liberty."

He says the new laws are perfect.  That if we follow these laws we will not be forgetful about what we hear, or what God expects of us.  That there is a work to be done, and we will do it.  That's what happens with the salvation experience.  We get "a will" to do God's work.  He gives this "will" to us.

Hebrews 10: 16  "This is the covenant that I will make with them, after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and I will write them in their minds."

Now, when we hear God's words, we remember them.  They are written not in stone, but in our hearts.

Ezekiel 11:19  "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; That they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them:  and they shall be my people, and I will be their God."

One heart.  New spirit.  A heart that is soft, not hard.  We will walk in his laws.  Do his work.  Then Ezekiel gives a blessing.  "…I will be their God."   James also gave a blessing:  "…this man shall be blessed in his deed."

Doing good feels good.  You are the one who gets the blessing.

How much do you have to know anyway.  All the fine points of the Bible can be learned as you go along.  But for the purpose of sharing Christ--being a disciple--you really only need your own experience.  You needed forgiveness.  God forgave you.  In Christ.  Jesus covered what you have done wrong.  He is ready to forgive others as well.

James 1: 23-24  "For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a glass (mirror): For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straight away forgets what manner of man he was."

Sunday morning Christians.   They come to church on Sunday, listen attentively, agree with everything that is being taught, and then go home and do nothing about it.  Unchanged.   The Gospel is a life changing message.  But it has to start from the inside and work its way out.  Not the other way around.  If Christ is not in your heart, you have no motive to change.

We use other people to be our looking glass.  You say something, they smile or frown and you react.  People behave in a back and forth way, being shaped from the outside in.  You may think you are a self made man, but the truth is, we are all shaped by what we grow up observing.  And the way to be changed from the inside out is to let Christ shape you.  In the Bible it's called regeneration.

After Ken retired from the Marine Corps, he taught Sociology at a local college.  There was a theory that was prevalent among Sociologists at the time, (by Cooley) called the "Looking Glass Theory."  Ken always took his Bible into the classroom and read James 1: 23-24 to the class and told them that this "looking glass" theory wasn't new.  It had been written over 2000 years ago.   And that we were changed in only two ways.  Either from the outside in, (Looking Glass Theory) or from the inside out.

Great way to get the Bible into the classroom.

James is full of one line zingers.

James 1: 22  "But be you doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."

Which means:  It doesn't do you any good to learn, learn, learn if you don't put it into action.

I teach young women from time to time. I have determined that I can give a class almost everything that I have to give in three years.  By that time, they are either ready to serve or they aren't ever going to do anything but listen.

I had a class full of women that were ready to serve in the church.  They just didn't know it.  They wanted to stay in my class and sit and soak.

So I told them, "It's time for all of you to go find a place in the church to serve."  Three months later, they were still in my class, so the next Sunday I told them that I was quitting.   "I'm going to go teach High School seniors."

Now, they are all serving in the church as leaders.  It's been forty years.  The other day, one of them said to me  "I couldn't believe you would really leave us.  I couldn't believe that you would just up and quit."  I told her that I didn't quit, I just got a brand new set of "listeners."

Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.  Just be sure you are a doer--of the word.  Not a sit and soaker. "Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."  2Tim. 3: 7

One of my readers in Europe said she knew something was going on with me because my posting times were so erratic.  As usual, I never know what the point of my problems is until they are over.  I just figure I'll get through it with the help of God.

I just don't like to sound like I have a complaint.  I don't.

But Ken had one of his regular emergencies.  It's his arm where they do his dialysis.  It has five stents and clogs up from time to time.  Which requires emergency surgery.  His Tulsa surgeon and I know each other pretty well by now.  I like him.  And he knows me well enough to know that when I call that it's an emergency--so when I call,  Ken is next in line for surgery.  Usually by the time I can get him to Tulsa.  If I wait for the people here to get me in with someone it might take a week. I have a type A personality in case you haven't figured it out.  One of my favorite words is "Now." (Politely of course.)

Anyway, all is well.  I have just been busy with details.  Things are back to normal, whatever that is.  Ken was sitting up at the hospital today saying he was hungry.  He ate.  They let him go home.  He has spent the day catching up on the crossword puzzles.  He's back in charge.

I love talking to all of you.  I still have not been able to access your comments, but my computer  savvy daughter--who set all this up for me--is here for a few days, and she is going to figure it out for me.  So if you have comments, I will be looking forward to seeing what you have to say.  If you don't, that's ok as well.  I know you are out there.

We have the same God.

This verse is one we have all heard before, or memorized.  James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

God is the great giver.  You can't out give him.  Everything good comes from him.

 I have a habit of praying for a parking space close to the door of the places I need go.  It's easier for Ken to get in.  It's easier for me as well.  It's uncanny the way they appear when I need one.  They come, from above.  From the Father--when I really need it.

I don't recommend that you pray for that particular thing, I'm not advocating pie in the sky, but whatever your need, God can supply it.  I just happen to need to get into doctor's offices, etc. as easily as possible.

Why are we surprised when God gives us what we need?

He is the Father of Lights.  He doesn't cast a shadow.  He doesn't turn away from us.  He doesn't vary from one moment to the next.  He is our provider.

If you think you or your spouse is your provider, you haven't had a real crisis in your life.  God is the provider.  He gives the gifts.

And we don't need the same things.  Right now, in my life the only thing I really need is a parking space near to the door.

Authority is always granted from the bottom up.

There may be rules, laws, ordinances or agreements.  But unless you choose to comply, there is no authority over you.  True, you may end up in prison, lose your job, have your spouse leave you or even end up dead.  But each individual chooses whether or not  to come under authority.

Every time I come up to a stop sign, I grant the state the authority to decide when I should stop.  But I can choose not to obey that authority.  There are consequences if I don't obey, but it is my choice.  I grant authority when I stop my car.

When we give our lives to Christ, we grant him authority over us.  It is our choice.  He cannot force us.  But once that authority is granted, there are consequences.  Good, if we follow him.  Bad if we don't.  Once we are his, we are his.  He will not let us go.  Much like a good father, he leads us into good choices and gives us a bad conscience when we do wrong--so we can repent and renew the fellowship with him.  You can't do anything to break the relationship.  You are bought with a price.  You are his.

James is a very authoritarian writer.  He spells out what we should be doing in short blunt statements.  He was the top elder or pastor of the Jerusalem church and as such, had the authority to speak.

He knew Jesus well.  He grew up with him in the same house, with the same mother.  Although James didn't become a Christian until after the resurrection, once he knew that Jesus was God, James was a faithful follower and granted Jesus--the Christ--full authority over his life.  Once James chose Christ, he was willing to die to spread the good news.   I am thankful for his writings.

Temptation?  Depending on your age, you have passed through many different periods of temptation in your life.  You can look back and wonder what your problem was, since what tempted you then may not tempt you now.  One temptation that I have had all my life has been any kind of bread with yeast in it.

My mother used to send me to the store with 2 dimes for two loaves of bread.  She knew that I would eat one whole loaf before I got home.  Luckily I had a racing metabolism so I didn't gain weight. (Yes, bread was a dime.)  Doughnuts should have been a food group.

When I finally got to Junior High School, I would take my quarter to the Bakery.  While my friends were eating their hamburger and french fries, I would eat an entire loaf of fresh baked bread.  There is nothing wrong with bread unless you are me.  I don't seem to know when I've had enough.

It's easy to judge someone who has a temptation in their life that you don't have.  But judging your own temptations is something we should regularly do.  My method of dealing with the things that tempt me is to stay away from them.  When you have a lifetime habit that is damaging you or those around you, quit.  I don't go to bakeries when I am in charge of what is going on because I know the aroma will overcome me.  I limit myself to one doughnut a week at church.

Why in the world would a church hand out doughnuts and coffee.  I know.  I know.  It's not your temptation--but I could eat the entire dozen in the box.  You might be thinking, It's not Scotch--it's not cigarettes.  No, but the way I eat bread is not good for my health.

James 1: 12  "Blessed is the man (woman) that endures temptation:  for when he is tried, he (she) shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him."

 I bet there will be doughnuts in heaven.  There's probably going to be a doughnut tree.

Are you wise?  Do you always know the right thing to do?  The right thing to say?  If not, join my club.  I've got a situation going on in my life right now that no matter what I do, I will be choosing, and I hate that.  Have you ever been caught in the middle of something?  Not knowing which way to turn? When in doubt about what to do, I do nothing until I get some real wisdom.  The Godly kind.

James 1: 5-8  "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and doesn't upbraid you;  and it shall be given to him.  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.  Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."

Don't you get frustrated with people who say one thing one day, and another thing the next?  They are always wavering.  Back and forth, going along with whoever they happen to be with at the moment.

I want people to tell me the truth.  Don't be double minded.  Don't waver.  Be the same all the time.

Did you ever watch waves tossing sea grass to and fro.  Whichever way the wave goes, that is the way the reeds go.

Wisdom involves searching out answers to problems and talking to God about your choices.  If you have faith, God says he will give you answers.

I have talked about the fact that James was the half brother of Christ.  He was a reluctant believer, but after the resurrection, he was a force to be reckoned with, in the Christian community.  Most of what we know of him comes from his work in the Jerusalem church.  Which was being persecuted after the death of Christ.   The book of James is the only work we have that he wrote.

James 1:1  "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting."  This must have been a widely circulated letter for him to have addressed it to all twelve tribes of the Jews.

James had a heart for the his people, the Jews.  They had been dispersed all over the known world after invasions by the Assyrians, Babylonians, and the Romans.  They had lost their country.  But they had not lost their identity.  They knew who they were.  They knew where they came from--Israel--and that Jerusalem was the city of David, the city of the temple.  They were waiting for a king to rise up so they could return to their homeland and once again be a nation.

This letter is to the Jews who knew that the King had come.

James' letter is full of instruction to Jewish believers.   Remember, the only knowledge that these Christians had back then were letters from those who had known Jesus--and perhaps if they were lucky a visit from Paul, Barnabas, Timothy or some other believer that brought news.  The words from James were full of encouragement for them.  Letters were difficult to write and difficult to deliver. These words from James were full of encouragement for them.

The words of James are as relevant today as they were 2000 years ago.  James gives us practical guidelines for our behavior.

I tried to hit the high lights in Hebrews, which is hard when every verse could be explored.   It is a short book.  Take a few minutes and read it all.

After the writer finishes his thoughts and feelings and instructions to the people, he ends with a blessing.     I love blessings.  When someone says, "God bless you,"  I always feel really good.

Heb. 13: 20-21  "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.  Amen."

The God of peace.  In a war torn world--with war inspired religions--there is a place of peace.  In the God of peace.  THE God who raised Jesus from the dead.  There is no other.  The Lord our God is ONE God.  God the Father who is God the Son who is God the Holy Spirit.

He has made an everlasting covenant with us through the blood of his Son who became sin for us.  He will work inside us to do good works, to do his will, and to perfect us through the indwelling Christ Jesus.

Peace within is a yearning in our hearts.  It is peace without that is so difficult to achieve.  The world is not a peaceful place.  Hebrews 13: "For here we (Christians) have no continuing city, but we seek one to come."

The only place that Christians can call their own "city" is when they meet together.  But a city is coming for us.  With a perfect King.  Until that happens, well, God bless you and give you peace.

Hebrews 13:1-2  "Let brotherly love continue.  Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."  Don't you just love the book of Hebrews!!!

In 1998, Frank Peretti wrote a book, "This Present Darkness," that prompted me go to Scripture to reexamine what I believed about angels.  The biggest shock to me was how many scriptures there were on angels that I had just skimmed over without much thought.  Dozens and dozens of them.

After reading scripture (including the one above from Hebrews) I decided that angels weren't just for "back then," but were also for now.  For us, too.  I've never seen one, that I know of, but Hebrews says we may have entertained an angel and not known it.  I know for sure God sends people into our lives when we need them.

A friend of mine (70+ years) had her storm cellar door open.  Doppler had been warning us of an impending tornado.  She took a wrong step and fell down a dozen concrete stairs, breaking her leg in more than one place, and hitting her head on the concrete floor.  Then when she came to, she drug herself up those stairs.  No one could imagine how she did it.  But she did.  Then she drug herself into her kitchen--where she had a phone on the wall.  She lay there for hours and hours, unable to stand up and reach the phone--waiting for someone to call so she could pull the phone off the wall by the cord, answer it and get help.

I hadn't spoken to her in months and months, but we had a mutual friend who lived in Shawnee (which had just been hit by a tornado) so I called her to check on them.  I heard a huge clatter when she yanked the phone off the wall and pulled it back over to her side.  "You are my angel," she breathed into the phone.  "I have been lying here praying that God would send me an angel."

I've never been an angel before.  It felt pretty good.  All I had to do was call 911.

I'm sitting here looking at my calendar from September 2008.  Yes, I'm one of those who writes everything down on those square calendar boxes.  It's like a diary:  dentist, dogs to the groomer, hair cuts, repair man,  etc. etc.  And then I save the calendars.

I was checking to be for sure that this week, five years ago I found out that I had breast cancer.  The aggressive, invasive stuff.  But I had a ticket to London with my friends, so I had the surgery and a few days later got on a plane.   How many times in your life do you get to go to London?!!!!  I Put it all in the hands of God--and the morning after I got back from overseas, I started chemo.  Then radiation.

I'm alive.  I can't help but wonder, "Why did I survive?"  But of course we never get the answer to those kinds of questions.   I certainly bless God that I am here, and that I have the strength to take care of Ken.  I'm glad that I'm getting to blog.  I teach a class.  I'm playing the piano at church.  I hadn't done that in thirty years.  I played my marimba last Sunday.   Who knows why I lived.  I'm thankful I did.  Five years and counting.

Heb. 13: 5b-6  "…be content with those things that you have: for He has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me."

Be content.  With what you have.  In this moment.  Be thankful for today and the joy that is in it.

God won't leave you.  You can say with all confidence:  God is my help.  I'll get through this.

Keep on keeping on.  Fear will stop you in your tracks.  So don't stop putting one foot in front of the other.  If you have a ticket to London, go.

Let's look at those verses one more time.  Hev. 12: 1-2  "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

I don't like to get hot.  I do not like to sweat.  Running races is something I never did nor will ever do, especially with weights on.  As a matter of fact, I don't like to exercise, jog, do push ups etc. etc…  You might say that I'm a sedentary type.  Give me a book and a recliner and I am good to go.

But the writer is talking about mental and spiritual exertion.  He compared it to a race.  You aren't racing against anyone, you and I are racing toward someone.  Christ.  Toward a finish line.

And he says the way to run this race is to stay focused and watch out for the snares that are tempting to us.  The things that so easily get in our way.  That beset us.  This means you need to know where you are most likely to stumble.  Where you  are most likely to fall.

And there is some spiritual sweat involved.  You have to make a spiritual effort.  You have to "Study to show yourself approved unto God,  a workman (race runner) that doesn't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth."  2 Timothy 2: 15.  

If you want the trophy you have to do the work.  Christ is standing at the finish line waiting for each of us to cross.  I don't want to come trailing in last.



 

There is nothing quite like going to the mailbox and getting a letter addressed to you in handwriting.  I have literally hundreds of letters that were addressed to me.  I saved them all.  Many of them with five cent postage stamps.  But I've been cleaning out drawers and boxes since  I have been spending so much time at home,  and deciding which of these letters to keep is next on my list.

I am going through them one by one, rereading each one.  And if there is something about one of my children in them, I put it in a manila envelope for them to deal with.  The rest of them I am throwing out. (Except the ones from Ken.  From Spain, Cuba, Japan, Okinawa, the Philippines, orVietnam. I will read all of those some other day.  (He was gone a lot. )

There are emotions involved with throwing away my mother and father's handwriting.  I feel like I am throwing them away.  But there's nothing on the pages except something about the weather, or where they were going, or who they saw at church.  Just a few words to keep in touch before we could afford a phone call.  But still.   They hold so many memories.

Hebrews was a personal handwritten letter to people that the writer loved.  Think how much time it took for him to write it with a goose quill and ink.  After naming dozens of people who lived by faith, the writer reminds us how many of them died horrible deaths and still stood firm in their faith.  They believed that the Messiah would come.  And he did.  They just didn't live to see it.  We did.

The writer sums up what our faith should look like in Heb. 12: 1,  "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

My parents are in that cloud of witnesses for me.

Hebrews 11:6  "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

I can't figure out what God looks like.  So when I   "…come to him…",   I am always trying to figure out  where he is.  How he is listening to me.  What is he doing?  Is he sitting down or standing up?  Is he visible with Spiritual eyes?  Is there a correct way to talk to Him?

Sometimes I find myself drifting because I have a hard time focusing on something I can't see.  But I keep on trying to talk to him.  I don't know if you could call it prayer;  it's move like an ongoing conversation.  But the thing that keeps me praying is faith.  I am diligently seeking his will for my life.

 I know, that even though I don't seem to have a good handle on exactly how to do prayer, that God hears me.  God is listening.  He is on my side.  He loves me.  I know He is there.  That is faith mixed with assurance.  That is "a lively" hope that comes from a firm grip on prophetic scripture and recorded history.  My faith is built on Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.  Facts.

So I know it pleases him when I talk to him.   Because the opposite of the statement: "…without faith it is impossible to please him…"  is:  that if we have faith, we please him.

Faith is a funny thing.  It feels good.  You want everyone else to have some.

Share your faith.  That's what it means to spread the gospel.

Encouragement.   What a difference it makes in our lives.  Every time I go to see my daughter in Edmond, (Oklahoma) I stop at Edmond's Antiques to see Pam.  ( It's one of those places that makes you feel good when you walk in the door.)  She said she had been reading my blog and that she wanted me to know how much it meant to her.  She said she was praying for Ken and me.  My soul was encouraged.  I sit here in my house writing, wondering if anyone gets anything out of this.  I just keep writing.  It's nice to hear encouraging words.

I have been thinking about the 11th chapter of Hebrews and how almost everyone calls it the "Faith Chapter of the Bible"--but I can't help think that it is really a chapter on encouragement.  It is a "keep on keeping on" chapter reminding us of those great men and women who remained faithful to God.

The writer of Hebrews gives us the names of those who have gone before in the faith.  But the words are really written to encourage us by examining their faith.  To see that their lives had meaning because of their faith.  And that God honored their faith.

Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the harlot Rahab,  Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David, Samuel and all the prophets.  The writer says in verse 13a, "All these died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them and embraced them…"   Faith.  In what God promised.   Heb. 10; 36 "For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise."

The promise of eternal life.  The promise of the Messiah. The promise that our sins would be forgiven.  In the Old Testament, they looked forward to the coming of Christ.  We look back.  But all of us, then and now, believe that God does what He says He will do.  We have faith in Him.

And we are encouraged by faith in the lives of others.

Heb. 10: 38a, "…the just shall live by faith…"  The writer is finishing up the 10th chapter and ready to begin one of the most well known passages in the entire New Testament.

In Hebrews, the 11th chapter, we have "The Faith Chapter."   One after another of the Old Testament patriarchs are named and their faith examined.  The chapter begins with a  definition.

Heb. 11: 1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  What a marvelous definition of faith.

Substance:    Of things hoped for.  Not just any hope, but a confident hope.
Evidence:     Of things not seen.  The spiritual touches our hearts.  Unseen, but felt.

How can you explain faith to a person who has none.  Our faith is not blind; we have a tremendous record of evidence to prove the Deity of Jesus.  We believe because of  Old Testament Jewish prophecy.  We believe because of the testimony of the Disciples and the radical turnaround in their lives after the resurrection.  We believe because of the miraculous vision and conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus and his transformation from killing Christians, to converting them with the story of Christ. We believe because…because…because.   The list goes on and on.

But in the end, there is a leap.  A leap from questions, to faith.

And the rest is history--in each of our lives.  The just shall live by faith.

I truly do love the book of Hebrews.  I guess you can tell.

Heb. 10: 26  "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins."

One sacrifice.  Jesus.  You can't keep killing Him over and over.  The Jews have that religion.  They have to keep making sacrifices for sin over and over again--in anticipation of the Messiah.  We don't.  He died and paid for all our transgressions.  Once and for all.  The lamb of God.

We know from fulfillment of all the Jewish prophecies (as I recall, over 72 predictions) that Jesus was the Messiah.  Plus, the resurrection seals the deal.  He conquered death for us all.  One, if not "the", most validated events in all the records of history.

So sinning willfully isn't an option.  You either give Him control, or you don't.  Do we sin.  Of course.  But premeditated, willful sin is another matter.  There is a scripture in James 4:17 that says, "Therefore to him who knows to do good and does it not, to him it is sin."

So don't get into the trap of trying to be someone else's judge.  If they have the Holy Spirit--He--God,  will take care of it.  However, don't stick your head in the ground and say you don't know what God expects of you.  It's all there in His word.

Heb. 10: 30-31  "For we know Him who has said, Vengeance belongs to me says the Lord...And again, The lord shall judge his people...It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Fearful.

Heb. 10: 25,  "Don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching."

Church.  Why is it so important to go,  instead of staying at home and sitting in front of the TV and watching a sermon by yourself--which might be a lot more interesting than what your preacher has to offer.   Not every preacher can be Billy Graham.

But God covered that question when he told us in verse 24---to "...provoke each other to good works."  You need to be where people are to be able to provoke (encourage).  They come to the gathering that we call church for a lot of reasons, looking for something more.  A group allows a person to be anonymous as exhortation takes place.  The group gives support.  The Holy Spirit does the rest.  

In verse 25 (from above),  God says  for us to assemble.  Then He says for us to exhort.

Church isn't about you.  It is about the strength of the group.  It's about what you do for the others in the assembly.  They are your church family and they need you.  There are dozens of ways to help.

And God is very clear.  You don't have an excuse for not finding a group where you can serve.

It is all about giving.  Not getting.

And like it says, "The day" is approaching.  One way or another we will have to answer to a Holy God for our behavior here on earth when it comes to the subject of assembling.

There is strength in numbers.

The tenth chapter of Hebrews is full of important verses.  I want to talk about all of them, but I would never get through the book if I did!!

Heb. 10: 24, "And let us consider one another,   to provoke unto love and to good works:"

Consider one another.  Provoke.  Consider--to provoke.

Consideration and courtesy don't seem to be very present in today's society.  But we are challenged to consider each other for a common Christian purpose.  The good of others.

But how do you be considerate and provoke someone at the same time.  You do it with love for the intended  purpose.  For the result:  To challenge others to do good works.  In the name of our God.

My class at church is very good at this.  "Would you help me cook dinner for this family who need some help?" someone will ask.

How can you refuse.  It may not be convenient at the moment, but the women in my class seem to get the job done.  We provoke each other to do good works.  That's the point.  If you are a Christian, you are supposed to do good.  Your works don't make you a Christian, but are a result of your "…holding fast to your profession of faith."

I really don't like to be provoked.  I'd rather be the provokee.

In Oklahoma, after a rain in the summer, you can find crawdads crawling around on the ground.  I have no idea why they come out of their holes.  Maybe because the holes fill up with water?  I remember  when I was a child, splashing through the wet grass, picking them up behind the pinchers and putting them in a box so I could play with them.

Sometimes I would find a mother with her tail literally covered with hundreds of tiny babies holding on like they were glued.  It was fascinating the way the mother would raise her pinchers to defend her family.  And as long as the babies didn't let go, they were safe.
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That may be a stupid story.  But when I think about holding on, I think about those babies holding on to their mother with every thing they had.  The storm raged and the the water rose, but they were safe as long as they held fast.

Heb. 10: 23 "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised;"

Once we have given ourselves to our Holy God, we have two things to do according to the author of Hebrews.  1.  Hold fast to our profession of faith.   2.  Don't waver

Our salvation is due to the faithfulness of God, not ours.  He promised.  We are protected because of the nature and character of God.  Not because of our character or our nature.   We are babies when we begin our Christian journey.  We hold on and He carries us.

The foundation of our faith is His faithfulness.   He's got us.  Whatever happens, hold fast.

I'm holding on.  He's faithful.  What more can a person ask for?